What exactly is Singapore style porridge? I thought I knew quite a bit about porridge……. there’s the smooth & creamy Cantonese congee, the soupy Teochew type of fish porridge, the Taiwanese style with sweet potatoes etc. But after making a trip down to Praise Gourmet (真粥道), I actually learnt there’re more. There’s also the Hainanese porridge, those sticky ones with grains that are commonly found in hawker centres & now, the Singapore style…………

It was indeed a pleasure being invited for a food-tasting session by a food critic & his charming daughter. In case you haven’t heard of Moses (林益民), he's a living legend in the S’pore entertainment scene. Moses is also an active judge & food critic for various gourmet competitions & promotions for radios, magazines & newspapers.

Praise Gourmet Singapore Style Porridge is a first concept outlet by Gourmet Ambassador Moses Lim & his son-in-law, Sean. With me is Moses’ lovely & vivacious daughter, Grace. She’s also helping in Praise Gourmet, & she was our host for the day as Moses was out doing a school presentation.

Thanks to Praise Gourmet, my group of students also got to sit in for the food-tasting session!

Their porridge is unlike any of those mentioned above. It’s not paste-like, nor it’s watery; the texture is more like a combination of different styles. Let’s take a look at some of the dishes served & what exactly is Singapore style porridge.

Kick off the meal with their popular Salmon Yu Sheng (鲑鱼魚生) @ SGD 6/10. A favourite among their patrons, the sashimi is a refreshing plate of julienned lettuces topped with raw salmon slices & dressed in a tangy special sauce. My thought: the appetizer would be better if lime was served at the side for diners like myself who prefer a sourish tang.

Here’s my student, LJ, enjoying the appetizer!

Through Sean's home kitchen experimentation, he came up with the Traditional Porridge (传统粥) @ SGD 6.50 which consists of specially marinated & hand-beaten minced pork, sliced pork together with fresh pig's liver complementing his base porridge.

The flavourful porridge is specially cooked with the Chef's special broth, to a thick consistency; a skill Sean had picked up understudying at a porridge stall for a few months. Look what I’ve found in my porridge – a huge slice of pork liver!

An interesting one on their menu is the Double Fish Porridge (双鱼粥) @ SGD 7, which is also one of Moses' favourites. The porridge was neatly laced with slices of Batang (马鲛鱼) & raw Salmon (鲑鱼). With the piping hot porridge, the raw salmon was “cooked” perfectly with the temperature from the gruel.

Of course, all orders of porridge come with the Chinese Fritters (油条). And instead of throwing in all the garnishes into the porridge which some patrons may not fancy, the chopped spring onions (葱粒), fried shallots (油葱) & preserved vegetables (冬菜) are served separately on a side plate. You won’t find any condiments on the tables; you won’t need them. The taste of the porridge is executed with the right balance. But if you still find the porridge not salty enough, order a plate of their braised items to go along.

Check out their extension menu of Praise Special Delights (特色小吃). The Braised Platter (卤味拼盘) @ SGD 6 is a must-try! The dish is filled with tender pork belly, tau pok or beancurd puffs, beancurd & egg (卤肉, 豆干, 豆卜, 蛋) stewed in dark soya sauce. The braised items are a personal recipe from Moses' wife, who's of Taiwanese origin. The taste is somewhat different from our local ones, & it’s extremely delicious. Taste was superb especially the pork belly, which left us wanting for more! You could tell from the efforts & hours of braising just from a simple plate of Peanuts (卤花生) @ just SGD 2. Love the rich garlicky tang that whetted our appetite!

If you don’t mind forking out SGD 18 for a bowl of Scallop Porridge (带子粥), what you’ll get is a bowl filled with fresh & plumpy Scallops! Those crispy anchovies are definitely a plus to the already flavourful dish! Thumbs-up!

More seafood porridge to come; here’s their Prawn Porridge (虾粥) @ SGD 6.50! A little bland compared to the rest of the porridge, but the prawns were nice & crunchy. If you find the Prawn Porridge too plain, they also have the Prawn & Salmon Porridge @ SGD7.

“Would you like to try our Braised Chicken Wings too?” Grace asked gleefully. The ladies hesitated for a while; there was a common thought at the back of our mind – we don’t like to use our hands :< But since the host highly recommended the dish, we accepted politely. Boy was I glad to say “yes” to her offer cause their wings were darn good! There was no need to use our hands at all! The delicate meat just fell apart from the bones with just a gentle pull. The meat, together with its savoury skin, is definitely one of the best! You’re seeing 4 pcs of wings in the pix as there were 4 of us there for the tasting session., but the Braised Chicken Wings (卤鸡翅) @ SGD 4 comes in 3 pcs.

We just couldn’t get enough of the Pork Belly, so I ordered another plate with just the Braised Pork Belly (卤肉) @ SGD 4. I must admit that this dish is heavenly, & I strongly urge you to try this if you’re not one of those health conscious. But then again, I’m sure it doesn’t hurt to eat once in a while? The tender & juicy meat just melt in your mouth & it tasted just like one of those sous-vide pork dishes. It’s truly out of this world! Must-try!

Though a simple meal, it was one of the most satisfying food tasting sessions I’ve ever had. The four of us were so contented & it was another awesome teacher-student gathering.

And before you leave Praise Gourmet, make sure you check out their restroom! The adorable host wanted a talking point in the restaurant, so she worked together with her interior designer & came up with the idea of using a bicycle for the sink. Pretty neat, eh?

It's very interesting to see them including salmon sashimi into porridge now, i once had some fresh fish sashimi with porridge at Toa Payoh area and that was heavenly, would definitely love to try this next time :)

Delicious stuff, I'm a fan of all the sides but damn you could buy yourself a 2kg box of japanese scallops for $30+ dollars, I'd rather do that! Thanks for sharing, I love hearing about new food places in singapore I haven't come across!

After reading this blog, I tell myself....must try, must try. Everything looks so yummy. Very family style. Starts thinking of having a bowl of porridge in the air-con room, just like having a bowl of porridge during rainny day.

I used to take the traditional porridge when i was a little child, at a coffee shop near my house. Slice liver, sometimes even intestines, slice pork and minced pork, oh boy! Yummy! But, inorder to get to eat that, we have to get up extra early so that we can tag along with my dad for that super delicious porridge. My dad's criteria for bring us there is that we have to get up early as usually by 10 am, there's no more porridge to serve already. What a reminder! The dishes and porridge at Praise looks so tempting, it would be a pity to miss.

the sad thing is that I live all the way at the northern end of SG near the causeway. Why are there so many good food at the east. Wish that more such eateries open in the central or north part of SG =)